REVIEW: Whole lotta monkey business in ‘Shady Business’

By Diana Nollen

AMANA - There's this play, see, and it's got all dese shady peoples in it, see. But I didn't see nothin' or hear nothin' Friday night except for a whole lotta laughin'.

Other than that, my lips are sealed, I promise Big Mack. Cross my heart and hope to, um, well, NOT to die.

See, to say too much about “Shady Business” at the Old Creamery Theatre would be bad, very bad for me and my digits, which I would like to keep. Harry the Hammer is just waiting in the wings to lower the boom on me. Dozer is just itchin' to measure me for some size 8 1/2 cement shoes if I do too much talkin'.

So I'll just say there's some guys and dolls on stage through Nov. 15 conducting some of the funniest business I've seen in a long time. It's equal parts shady business and monkey business from a crew that's perfectly cast. Not a weak link in the bunch, nosiree.

Ya gots Leah Raulerson, a Decorah native now livin' in D.C., playin' Mandy. A less than fine girl, she's a statuesque redhead who's happy to let Big Mac pay her upkeep while gettin' a little something on the side.

That side car is Gerry, or is he Terry or Larry? It's hard to keep up when these stooges start spoutin' their lies. Anyways, he's played to wimpy perfection by Andy Brown of McKenzie, Tenn. He's got somethin' up his sleeve, but that's all I'm sayin'.

Then there's Terry, or is he Larry or Gerry? Joe Lehman of Chicago is tons of fun as Terry the Twit, another side of a love quadrangle that gets more tangled as the action unfolds.

Ringin' that love bell is Lisa Margolin, an Iowa City native now working her skills in the Big Apple. She's the quintessential oh. my. gawd. Joisey goil moll who cleans up quite beautifully for the hilarious Act II dinner party.

While Raulerson deserves some kind of award for her feats of memorization and comic timing as she covers her high-heeled tracks, Margolin wins hands-down for her game of charades as all the lies begin to unravel.

These are the good guys.

On the other side are the bad guys, who are very, very good.

LR Hults of Columbia, Mo., is poifect as mob boss Big Mack, poised to attack when he discovers he's been shorted a grand from his under-the-table earnings. Watching him try to keep up with his much younger filly, Mandy, is a hoot and had Friday's near-capacity crowd howling.

Equal nods go to his goons, Dozer (Jason Grubbe of Iowa City) and Harry the Hammer (Sean McCall of Marengo). I wouldn't want to make either one mad, ever. Dozer's actions speak louder than his words, while Hammer lets his hands do the talking, if you get my drift.

This is the kind of show the Old Creamery does best: over-the-top camp with a heart that will grab yours.

So just do it. Get a ticket and go. Or you'll be sorry. Very, very sorry.

 FAST TAKE

What: “Shady Business”

Where: Old Creamery Theatre,

When: Through Nov. 15. Show times: 3 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Rated: PG-13

Tickets: $26.50 adults, $17.50 under age 30, through the Old Creamery Box Office, 1-(800) 35-AMANA, (319)  622-6194 or www.oldcreamery.com